Audio 3:51
Foreign governments evacuate staff from Baghdad

Matt BrownUpdated
Tue 17 Jun 2014, 7:32 AM AEST

Iraq's besieged government has begun mobilising thousands of volunteers as it tries to hurl back Sunni extremists who have stormed across the country. But another town, Tal Afar, has fallen in the north west, near the border of Syria. Foreign governments and international agencies are evacuating many of their Baghdad-based staff.

Transcript

CHRIS UHLMANN: Iraq's besieged government has begun mobilising thousands of volunteers as it tries to hurl back Sunni extremists who have stormed across the country.

But another town, Tal Afar, has fallen in the north west, near the border of Syria.

And in a sign that the world community has little confidence in the strength of Iraq's leadership, foreign governments and international agencies are evacuating many of their Baghdad-based staff.

Middle East correspondent Matt Brown is in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil.

Well Matt, many leaders have expressed concern that there might be a terrorist state created between Iraq and Syria, and there has been a battle on the border of those two countries.

MATT BROWN: That's right, Chris. The town of Tal Afar, not exactly on the border, but between Mosul, which fell to the Isis insurgents last week and the Syrian border.

It's really important because of that location, because obviously, it provides a conduit if they control it for a good period of time between their two main areas of operation.

It's been a battle for a couple of days now. And, whilst the government has said that it's in control - and, as I understand it, a government general responsible for the town tonight is still saying that - the residents are saying that ISIS is sweeping through the town. And those claims of control are also deeply undermined by the reports that tens of thousands of people are fleeing the city.

CHRIS UHLMANN: Matt, I also understand that Sunni leaders in Iraq are claiming that the militant breakout is broader than just ISIS.

MATT BROWN: Yeah, I mean, maybe reflecting the truth, but also reflecting a deep concern about the way this revolt is being seen.

Tariq al-Hashimi is the most senior of them to come out. He is, himself, a symbol of what's gone wrong in Iraq, because he was the vice president of Iraq, the most senior Sunni in that governing structure, the most senior Sunni Arab.

And as soon as the US withdrew in 2011, he was accused of running death squads and terrorism and sentenced to death, a real sign that the Shiite-dominated government of Nouri al-Maliki was breaking with the Sunnis.

He says that, while ISIS may be a vanguard in what's going on, the Sunni tribes and ex-military officers, people who served under the dictator Saddam Hussein, are also playing a very important role.

He's obviously anxious that international attention doesn't just focus on the extremists of ISIS, but also focuses on the many injustices suffered by the Sunni minority.

CHRIS UHLMANN: Well, Nouri al-Maliki has certainly been a problem, hasn't he? And, he's created the atmosphere, if you like, in which this could take place?

MATT BROWN: That's true, however, I mean, these leaders themselves have jockeyed for power and patronage, have at times done deals with Nouri al-Maliki and, indeed of course, the Americans, and they've lost.

Now, that doesn't, of course, excuse Mr al-Maliki's many faults, which have been recognised by many in the international community.

But it's just interesting, Chris, that I've spoken to two very senior tribal sheiks from Anbar, where this uprising began at the start of this year, and it's the same story. You know, they're saying less extreme Sunnis are the bulk of the revolt.

But they can't explain why ISIS, with its distinctive black flags, is so prominent in what we're seeing now.

And, I think, given the wheeling and dealing that they've been engaged in in the past, the fact that they've been under the thumb for so long now, I think their claims also reflect a concern that their men may genuinely be drawn to the resolve and the success of the extremists in ISIS.